About a decade ago, having depleted their own ancient aquifers to grow livestock feed, some wealthy Middle Eastern nations, along with China, began tapping into the largely unregulated aquifers of drought-stricken American states. Notably, megafarms in the Arizona desert and in other Western states have been exporting vast quantities of precious groundwater in the form of alfalfa hay…Read More »
This month, the Cambodian government reported that two people there died of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or H5N1 bird flu, after being exposed to infected poultry. For people, the risk of getting infected is low, but outbreaks in animals have been rising worldwide, wiping out chicken flocks and wild bird populations. The virus is devastating to poultry producers, who are forced to slaughter infected flocks…Read More »
Dan Zauderer and his in-laws had eaten plenty of pizza one evening in early October, and they still had seven slices left. What to do? “Well, we could just chuck it,” Zauderer thought. Instead, he and his fiancée wrapped the slices in plastic wrap, slapped labels on them with the date, and walked the leftovers a little more than a block down the road to a refrigerator standing along 92nd Avenue in New York City’s Upper East Side…Read More »
Former officials in the UN’s farming wing have said they were censored, sabotaged, undermined and victimized for more than a decade after they wrote about the hugely damaging contribution of methane emissions from livestock to global heating…Read More »
Climate breakdown is already changing the taste and quality of beer, scientists have warned.The quantity and quality of hops, a key ingredient in most beers, is being affected by global heating, according to a study. As a result, beer may become more expensive and manufacturers will have to adapt their brewing methods…Read More »
Like an estimated two-thirds of the world’s population, I don’t digest lactose well, which makes the occasional latte an especially pricey proposition. So it was a pleasant surprise when, shortly after moving to San Francisco, I ordered a drink at Blue Bottle Coffee and didn’t have to ask—or pay extra—for a milk alternative…Read More »
In July 2022, the United Nations and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan helped broker the Black Sea Grain Initiative: A deal between Russia and Ukraine that the UN Secretary-General António Guterres called “a beacon of hope.” It allowed food and fertilizer exports from three Ukrainian ports—on the Black Sea, Odesa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny/Pivdennyi—to be shipped to the rest of the world…Read More »
One sunny Saturday morning in Newmarket, Ontario, about an hour’s drive north of Toronto, a wok of pork bones and water slowly rises to a boil on the shiny black range of Rebecca Cui’s electric stovetop.When the water boils, Cui moves the blanched bones to her electric pressure cooker, which she fills with fresh water and sets it to simmer…Read More »
American fishing boats catching threatened Canadian salmon was flagged as a top concern for federal Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray before meeting with the US ambassador to Canada in March.Briefing notes, which Canada’s National Observer obtained through an access-to-information request, identify the issue as a key point for Murray to raise with US Ambassador David Cohen at a meeting scheduled for March 20…Read More »
My mother gave me her brown eyes, sense of humor, and an intrinsic need to show up at any Christmas-themed event with a box of homemade cookies weighing several pounds, at least. My mother also passed on her Judaism to me, but this is not, as you might think, in conflict with our Christmas cookie obsession…Read More »